Up In the Air
by keithcasper
Summary: JJ is on her way home from her mother's when her plane is hijacked by masked men. While the team tries to help from the outside , she and the flight Marshall must work together to take them down from the inside while they feel a connection growing between them. (No Will/Henry, set in season 3)
1. Chapter 1

(JJ's POV)

I rolled my eyes as I heard the pilot announce a delay of another ten minutes. It wasn't a long delay, but everyone was all buckled up and ready to go. I unbuckled my seat belt and bent down to pull up my bag. I set it on my lap and reached into the side pocket to grab my phone. I pulled it out and set the bag back under the seat in front of me. I sighed in some disgust as the guy at the window seat smacked his lips and started to snore again. My eyes shifted over a little and the guy sitting across the aisle and one row in front of me looked at the man in my section and then at me, gritting his teeth and raising his eyebrows. I laughed silently a little before opening my phone and pushed Hotch's contact number. He picked up after a few rings.

"Hotchner," he said in a stern voice.

"Hey Hotch. Just letting you know my flight is going to be a little late. There's a ten minute delay, but it might extend," I sighed.

"Ok. Just let me know when you land. How was your mother's?"

I laughed a little. "The same. Her excitement of when I came home and then the begging of her not wanting me to go back. But it was good, though."

Hotch laughed a little too. "Sounds great. Have a safe flight, JJ."

"Thanks, bye." I put my phone in the seat pocket in front of me and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I heard the man in my section smack again and my eyes shot open. The man that made the face was looking over at me and I caught his glance. He nodded over to the empty seat next to him. I looked back at the snoring man and back at the other guy. I stood up and moved to the seat next to him. It wasn't a bad deal; I got to get away from the loud snorer for a few minutes and got to talk to a super cute guy. He smiled once I sat down.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Jennifer."

"Love the name," he smiled easily.

"Thanks," I blushed a little. "What's yours?"

"Malcolm Sims. Pleasure to meet you," he said, sticking out his hand. I shook it and kept the conversation going.

"Where are you from?"

"Originally, Texas," he looked down at his watch, checking the time, and then looked back up at me. "But I live in DC now. What about you? You from DC or you visiting from Cleveland?"

"I'm from DC. I was visiting my mom in Cleveland and I'm coming back home now."

"Nice. I had a business thing for work in Chicago, then one in Cleveland, and now I'm headed back to DC."

"What do you do for work?" I asked. He shifted a little bit and answered after a moment of hesitation.

"I'm a salesman for a company. What about you?"

"I'm a real estate agent," I easily lied. I wasn't supposed to reveal my job unless it was necessary and so people around wouldn't hear. He nodded, buying it.

"Maybe you could help me look at properties," he laughed a little. "I am looking to move somewhere else in DC." Even though he laughed, he seemed serious. Before I could come up with another lie, however, the captain spoke over the PA again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting patiently. We are headed to the runway right now, so if you'll all please buckle back up if you have unbuckled. Thank you for choosing United." I looked over to Gabriel.

"I should probably get back to my seat," I sighed. He nodded.

"Yeah. But, can we meet when we get off the plane? I wanna get to know you a little better," Gabriel smiled. I smiled back.

"Ok," I simply said and stood up, returning to my seat. I exhaled deeply, happy that he was interested in me and I was interested in him. I felt the plane move back a little and shut my eyes, trying to get some rest again once more. This time, however, they shot open for a different reason. Not because of the obnoxious snoring next to me, but because of a clamor of screams and worried shouts. And the sound of multiple guns cocking.

What do you guys think so far? I know it's not long, but the next few chapters will be longer! Reviews/favorites/follows are greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

(JJ's POV)

"Everyone shut up!" A loud, firm voice shouted. My head shot up towards the voice and I saw five men, dressed in black, with ski masks covering their faces. I almost grabbed my bag to get my gun, but stopped once I saw their firepower. Each was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun on three of the men's hips. I still tensed up as one of them walked down the aisle and to the back of the plane.

"Listen up!" The same man shouted loudly. His light eyes scanned the crowd and lingered on me for just a second. "No one try anything. This isn't about any of you, we just need some things from some people and need some leverage. That's all. I'd hate to see any of you get hurt." He lightly patted another one of his colleagues chest and that one stepped forward.

"Everyone toss your phones, wallets, and keys into the aisle now!" The other one shouted. I bit my lip and knew I couldn't get away with not tossing anything up. I grabbed my phone from the pocket and pulled out my wallet with my badge in it. I prayed they wouldn't look into any of our wallets and tossed both items in the aisle. One of the men walked into the aisle in between me and Gabriel and kicked around the contents in the aisle, rummaging through it all. He picked up a wallet just next to mine and took the money from it. He lazily dropped it and then bent down again and picked up mine. He took all the money from it and was just about to close it, but stopped and looked at my badge. I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath as he was just behind me.

"Jennifer," he announced. He wasn't either of the two that spoke before. A new voice. I looked down and felt my body shake more as I heard his steps get closer until they stopped right next to me. I looked at him and he looked from my wallet to me. He pointed his gun at me. "Get up." I slowly stood up and he roughly grabbed my bicep. I normally would've fought back, but there was over 100 people here. That meant 100 hostages. He pushed me forward while still gripping my bicep tightly, and I heard a familiar voice speak up behind me.

"Hey, where are you taking her?!" Gabriel shouted. I turned around and saw saw Gabriel standing. The man pushing me with his one arm on my bicep aimed his gun at Gabriel with his other hand. Gabriel reluctantly sat back down slowly and he shot me a worried glance. I just shook my head. The man pushing me brought me over to two other men. They both looked over at us, and I recognized the one with the light blue eyes as the first one that shouted. He was most likely the leader.

"She's an agent," the one pushing me muttered, handing the leader my badge. He quickly glanced at it, then looked at me curiously. He tilted his head, thinking about what to do with me, I assumed.

"What's your name?" Was all he asked. Why was he asking? He already knew.

"Jennifer."

"And a..." He read the badge more in-depth. "Communications liaison for the BAU? Are you part of the BAU team?"

I hesitated for a second. What was he getting at.

"Yes," I said quietly, my throat dry. The leader's eyes lit up and I could tell he was smiling. He grabbed part of my hair and twirled it in his fingers, playing with it. An almost greedy look in his eyes, like a child on Christmas thinking of all the possibilities with a new toy. He released my hair and looked at the one holding me and the one that he was already standing by.

"I think if we let the FBI know we have one of their agents with us, they'll give us just about anything we want," he chirped. The other two men nodded.

"And if they don't?" The one holding me shifted nervously, regripping my alarm even tighter. The leader looked at me and played with my hair again.

"Then we show them how serious we are."

-Meanwhile-

(Morgan's POV)

"Reid, I really don't care how the blanket was invented," I sighed, cutting Reid off from one of his rants. He stopped mid-sentence, and pondered what to say next to annoy me. Hotch came up walking next to us and had a stern look on his face. I knew that face. It meant something was up.

"What's wrong?" I asked when he was next to us.

"A plane coming from Cleveland to DC is taken over by gunman and they're still headed this way. Local PD wants us to assist us when they land."

"Cleveland to DC? Isn't that the flight JJ is on?" Reid nervously questioned. Hotch just nodded slowly.

"Get your stuff please. Meet in the parking lot in twenty and then we are heading out to the airport."


	3. Chapter 3

-Back on the plane-

(JJ's POV)

"For right now," the leader said to the man holding onto my shoulder. "Sit her back down somewhere." The man holding my shoulder tugged me back a little and pushed me into the seat next to Gabriel.

"Tell your boyfriend to keep his mouth shut next time," the hijacker muttered. I looked over at Gabriel and he leaned in closer to me.

"What was that all about?" He whispered.

"They found out I was an agent," I replied, not trying to hide it anymore. I became angry at myself for throwing up my wallet. I probably could've gotten away with not throwing it in the aisle since it would be hard to tell who did and who didn't. Gabriel smiled a little.

"So, you're not in real estate?" He asked in a low voice. "And agent? As in FBI?" I shook my head. He nodded and slowly peeled back his jacket, revealing a badge, a police baton, and a small handgun.

"So, you're not a businessman?" I asked jokingly he. He shook his head. He let his jacket fall back into place, concealing his gun, badge, and baton. His head carefully lifted and looked around, scanning for any nearby gunmen. Two were in the front of the coach section, one was in the back talking loudly to some passengers, and the other two had gone up to the cockpit. He leaned back in.

"I'm the Air Marshall on this flight."

"Yeah, I got the impression," I joked. One of the gunmen slowly started to come down the aisle and Gabriel leaned back and talked totally off topic from the previous topic.

"So what were you doing in Cleveland again?" He asked, seeming like we were just having a casual conversation.

"Uh, I was visiting my mom and helping her move into her new place. She just moved from Pennsylvania," I said as casually as I could, tending up as I heard the footsteps of the gunman go right behind me.

"What the hell is taking so long?!" The leader, recognizable from his voice, shouted. The gunman that just walked down the aisle walked back up to the leader. "They should be taking off by now!"

"I'll go see what's up," the other one said. He was the one that found my badge. He went up to the cockpit and returned seconds later.

"They're refusing to take off," he muttered. "They know we won't kill them since no one else can fly the plane that we know of." The leader quickly shot his eyes up and searched the crowd of people. His eyes focused just about and to the left of me. He pointed forward and whispered something to the other man. The one that went to the cockpit nodded and headed down the aisle to my left. I turned around just before I heard a high-pitched scream and cry.

"No, please!" A man shouted. I saw behind me the gunman holding a young girl, no more than 4, by the back of her neck and pushing her forward. People around started to get up, but the man pushing the girl forward waved his gun at them and they sat back down, still murmuring and pleading with the gunman. Just as he passed me, I stood up and connected my fist to his cheek before he could react. He fell back in pain and released the girl.

"Stop!" The loud voice of the leader roared. I looked back and saw him pointing his gun, not at me, but at the young girl. I Immediately relaxed my body and stared at the leader with challenging eyes. He kept his gun trained on her and I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the man from the back of the plane come up the next aisle to the right of the one I was in, coming around to the other side of me. The man that I just hit stood up and faced me. I stayed still, however, knowing that the leader still threatened the child's life. The one I hit quickly brought up his own fist and it hit just under my nose. I stumbled back in pain as I heard him mutter a word. Two hands grabbed my arms and I felt cold cuffs to around my wrists.

"Take her up there and show the pilots how serious we are," the leader told the man I hit, pointing to the young girl. The one holding me tugged me back and sat me back in the seat next to Gabriel. He uncuffed the cuff on my left wrist and cuffed it to the arm of my chair on my right side. He walked away and the leader walked over to me and leaned down. The plane was nearly silent, and he spoke quietly.

"Don't try anything again," he said softly. "If we gotta show you we're serious, we will. But I really don't wanna see you get hurt." I just stared at him and he chuckled. He stood back up straight. "I'll take that as a yes that you won't do anything dumb anymore." He sauntered up the plane and went into the cockpit, I assumed. Two of the masked gunmen came back from the cockpit and started their patrol up and I felt a trickle of blood run from my nose down to my lip. The familiar taste of iron entered my mouth.

"Are you ok?" Gabriel asked worriedly in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," I said quietly. He gave me an unconvinced look. I laughed a little. "Really; I'm ok. I've been through worse."

"Wouldn't surprise me. You seem pretty tough."

"Thanks," I smiled. Gabriel's worried expression warmed up into a smile and the plane suddenly moved forward quickly. The leader and the other gunman from the plane came back into the main cabin and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the little girl wasn't with them. I almost shouted out something, but she came into view, stumbling behind the last two men to enter the cabin. Her right eye was swollen shut and tear streaks marked her face. She also had rough red streaks on her cheeks, probably from a gag. She kept her head down and returned to her seat next to the man who had screamed out. I looked back and forth in awe, from her to the leader. He caught my shocked state, and the next time I looked at him, he winked at me.


	4. Chapter 4

(Hotch's POV)

-Minutes later-

I gripped the steering wheel of the SUV tightly as Rossi talked with Cleveland PD on the phone. Prentiss sat in the back.

"Ok, thank you," Rossi muttered and hung up the phone. He turned to me. "Cleveland PD said that the plane took off about two minutes ago."

"That means we have just over an hour to get ready for them when they arrive," I said, doing quick calculations in my head.

"What's the plan?" Prentiss asked from the back.

I tilted my head. "It depends if they know if JJ is an agent or not. If they don't know, they'll call local MPD and talk with them. If they know, they'll probably communicate and make any demands with us. We get as much information of them as we can over the phone. Accents, dialect, anything that'll tell us where they're from or who they are."

"I assume you want me to do the negotiations?" Rossi asked.

"Yes. Whether they call local PD of us, you'll be handling negotiations with them." Rossi nodded understandingly. I knew he didn't want to and wasn't comfortable with it in this situation. If he said one wrong thing, JJ could pay a large price. But he knew it was part of the job. We sat in more silence for a while before we pulled into the back of the airport, near all the runways.

"What do you think they'll do if they find out JJ is an agent?" Prentiss asked solemnly. I gripped the wheel even tighter, turning my knuckles pale.

"I don't know. Hopefully, they don't know yet and don't find out," I mumbled and parked the car at the runway.

-Meanwhile-

(JJ's POV)

My ears popped as the plane finally flew at a steady altitude. I shifted uncomfortably at the slight pain and felt Gabriel shifting next to me, too.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly. He looked around a little more and finally turned to me.

"The rifles they're using," he muttered almost silently. "All M4s. All five of them have the same guns."

"So?"

"M4 Carbines. Those are the assault rifles the security uses here. People that can buy any just about any rifle normally wouldn't choose the Carbine. Not always as reliable as others. So, why wouldn't they buy better guns?" I shook my head, not really understanding what he was getting at. He leaned in closer and whispered in my ear. "I think at least one of our guys is a security guard." My eyes widened a little as it made sense. The sound of a gun cocking next to me snapped me out of my train of thought and I looked next to me. One of the masked men had his gun aimed in between Gabriel's eyes and held his finger off the trigger. He had some type of former experience.

"What were you whispering about?" He hissed at Gabriel. Gabriel just shook his head.

"Nothing."

The masked man looked at me sharply. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing," I stuttered out, not being able to some up with an excuse right away. The masked gunman looked from me to Gabriel, and back. His arm shot out and roughly grabbed my hair. He tugged up and I stood up to avoid him from pulling it harder. Gabriel was about to stand up, but stopped just as I felt the nozzle of the gun press against my head. The gunman carefully walked me to the part of the plane just outside the cockpit. Two gunmen stood there. I could tell by his build that one of them was the leader. He laughed once he saw me being dragged toward him.

"What'd she do now, Ace?" He asked the man holding on to me. Ace. I got a name, or, at least a nickname.

"Her and that guy in the front row of coach are trouble. They were whispering and kept looking from me to Jinx, and also at Vex. Probably hatching some sort of plan." The leader stepped toward me a little and I tightened my body instinctively.

"What were you guys talking about?" He asked. I stayed silent this time, still not thinking of a good lie or excuse. The leader looked from Ace to the other man and laughed again. "Well, whatever. If they were planning something, it's done now. Put her in the back of the plane. I'll be back there soon."

Ace shifted his stance a little and shifted his grip to my arm. "What?" Ace asked, his voice dry.

"Bring her to the back of the plane. Have Vex go with you and restrain her," the leader said, annoyed that he was repeating himself. "and I'll be back there soon." The leader looked over at the man that was with him when Ace and I walked up. "Fletch, go watch the passengers with Jinx while they get her back there." The other man, Fletch, nodded and walked back to where the passengers sat. The leader kneeled down and went into a cabinet, pulling out a small box. He was about to open it but looked over at Ace, who was still planted where he was before.

"Go!" The leader shouted. Ace jumped and quickly shoved me out the doorway and into the first class aisle. I quickly turned my head back to see the leader. The box was open and he was holding a small container filled with an orange liquid. In his other hand, he held a syringe. He inserted the syringe into the vial of the liquid and drew it up, a smile creeping on his face when he was doing so.


End file.
